


Cat Children

by Hellokaelyn



Category: NCIS
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-24
Updated: 2019-04-24
Packaged: 2020-01-25 17:37:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18579325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hellokaelyn/pseuds/Hellokaelyn
Summary: Nick comes in covered in cat hair which spikes Ellie's curiosity.





	Cat Children

**Author's Note:**

> Just an excuse to write Nick and cats after rewatching the episode of b99 with Jake and the cats 😅

No one paid much mind when one day after a weekend off, Nick came into work with his casual greeting of ‘sup dudes’ as he set his stuff down by his desk. 

Ellie opened her mouth to ask how his weekend was (she spent the weekend away from her phone at a spa with her girl friends) when her eyes narrowed as he took off his jacket, his signature skin tight black shirt  _ covered _ in..animal hair? 

“Uh Nick.” McGee said first, eyebrows raised. 

“Yeah?” 

“You might wanna get a lint roller before Gibbs comes.” 

“Wha-” Nick confused, looked down at himself. “Oh.”

Ellie who had been studying the hair on his shirt the best she could at her distance, squinted. “Is that cat hair?”

“Oh yeah I got stuck with Amanda's new cat over the weekend.” Nick shrugged it off. “I'll go see Jimmy, he should have one.”

As he walked away, McGee looked at her but now it was her turn to shrug. 

But when he turned back to the file on his desk, Ellie's eyes once again narrowed in the direction Nick walked off him.

That was too much hair for one cat, especially considering she doubted he willingly let any animal rub themselves all on his shirt enough to gain that much hair on it. 

_ Hmm.. _

* * *

Ellie must be bored out of her mind without a case (god that sounded horrible of her didn't it, hoping for a case?). Why else would she be so invested in this weird little mission of hers?

Operation Cat Hair.

Okay so maybe the name sucked.

But she  _ did _ find out more things.

  1. There was now a lint roller in his bag (she found out when he asked her to grab something).
  2. Sometimes there would be scratches on his hands or arms.
  3. A receipt once fell out of his jacket pocket and along with normal things she knew he bought were cat treats, cat toys, and a cat bed.
  4. She arrived seconds before him one morning to see him using the lint roller on his clothes from inside his car (maybe that one sounded stalkerish).
  5. When hanging out he no longer suggested going to his place.



Then there was the big thing. She called Amanda (they talked sometimes okay?) and casually mentioned her having a cat which Amanda confirmed was false.  _ I'm going to college soon Ellie, why would I get a cat?  _ She had said. 

But the real question here is..since when did Nick Torres like cats? Or want a pet? And why hide it? 

* * *

She decided to show up on a random Saturday afternoon. There was  _ no way _ Nick would turn her away. 

“Ellie!” He choked out in surprise as he answered the door.

Her mouth dropped open.

Cat..more like  _ cats _ .

Nick held one, another half curled on his shoulder, another she could see sleeping on his couch, and she had just spied another one shooting by as it practically played soccer with a toy mouse. 

_ Four cats! Four! _

“Uh-” Nick had no idea what to say.

Ellie decided to move inside, making him move back to let her in. Once the door shut behind her, the cat sleeping on the couch shot up and Ellie swore it was glaring at her.

She figured she was right when it made a growling noise. 

“Duke!” Nick said in a scolding tone, the cat made another growling noise that was now mixed with a hiss as it,  _ he _ , got up jumping off the couch and stalking slowly to the bedroom. “He uh..gets grumpy when anything disturbs his naps.”

Ellie blinked. Since when did Nick start casually talking about animals like they were people? (Okay so her heart melted a little, she was a sucker for a guy who treated animals like people). 

This time it was the cat on his shoulder that caught her attention, staring at her before giving a meow and hopping off his shoulder like it was nothing as it landed perfectly on the floor before following Duke to the bedroom.

“That was Domino.” 

Ellie nodded. 

Nick lifted up the cat in his arms, that made a noise of annoyance at the disturbance, blinking sleepily at them. Ellie almost turned into a puddle when the cat bumped its tiny head against Nick's face, Nick placing a kiss on said head. She literally had to put a hand on the kitchen counter behind her to keep from dropping to the floor. 

Because  _ holy crap that was adorable _ .

He gave the cat a few more pets before walking over to a large cat bed near the door, placing the cat on it that immediately curled into a ball and fell back asleep.

“And uh- that cats name?” Ellie asked, her voice a little hoarse. 

Nick grinned. “Oliver.” 

“Nick since when have you liked cats?” She blurted out. “I mean I knew you liked dogs but you never once said anything about cats-”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “It wasn't exactly planned..” Ellie motioned for him to go on. “On that weekend off when you first noticed the cat hair, I was on a run and it started raining.” He frowned. “I spotted a box with four kittens inside. They were all about to run off but for some reason stopped when I walked over, it started raining harder and I just..brought them back here.” 

“And decided to keep them.” Ellie said, a warmth spreading through her chest at the thought of Nick welcoming four kittens into his home. Giving them a home and out of the cold rain where who knows what could have happened to them. She knew he had a big heart despite how he tried to play off, but it always took her breath away when she saw it in action. “Why not bring them to a shelter or find new homes yourself?”

Nick smiled a little and shrugged. “They grew on me.” 

She was about to tease him about finding them too adorable to give away when the last cat came streaking along the floor, toy mouse nowhere in sight as the cat  _ jumped _ at Nick, digging its claws into his pants. She had a image of a child latching onto his leg but shook it off. 

Nick made a face of discomfort meaning the claws had went through his pants digging into his leg. “This one is Avalon, the only girl and the one you really have to watch out for.”

Ellie couldn't hide her laugh as Avalon ripped herself from Nick, running towards the living room window where she pounced on the curtain and began to climb it.

“Avalon!” He said in that same scolding voice he used on Duke. “What did I tell you about that!”

She put a hand over her mouth to hide her laughter as Nick kept scolding Avalon like she was a literal child, peeling her claw by claw off the curtain. 

Avalon meowed, squirming in his hold. 

“No.” Nick told her sternly, lifting her until they were nose to nose. Avalon pawed at his cheek. “Go play with your brothers.” 

He placed a kiss on her head, putting her down. Ellie watched in amusement as the white kitten darted to the bedroom. 

Strangled sounding meows sounded from the room seconds later making her jump. 

“Play nice!” Nick yelled. 

Oh my god..Nick was literally  _ daddy _ to  _ cat children _ . 

She must have said it out loud as his head snapped in her direction. If she didn't know any better she would have said he was blushing.

“Just uh- please don't tell McGee or anyone else about all of this. I mean the owning cats thing fine but-”

Ellie chuckled. “Don't worry, your machoness is safe with me.” 

He rolled his eyes, moving to the fridge grabbing them beers. 

“Why lie about it anyway?”

“I don't know.” He shrugged. “I guess I wasn't up for any jokes.”

“Well I think it's sweet.” She told him with a smile. “I know you don't want to be  _ sweet _ , but too bad.”

A smile spread across his lips. “I'll allow it this time.”

“Oh? You'll allow it?” Ellie raised an eyebrow.

Nick smirked. “Next time you won't get off so lucky.” 

Her heart jumped at his wink and the way he brushed against her as he walked past to the couch. 

After that they settled into their normal routine of drinking beer as they watched lame TV to make fun of, but at some point Ellie must have fell asleep against Nick.

She blinked her eyes open, about to reach up and rub the sleep out of them when she realized something was on her arm. 

One of the cats, Oliver, was on her arm sleeping away. 

Ellie took note of her surroundings. They must have shifted as Nick was laying  _ down _ on the couch with her half draped over his chest, some show was playing quietly on the TV, the room was dark, and not only was Oliver on her arm but the other three were with them as well. Duke was on their intertwined legs, Domino on Nick's arm, and Avalon was curled against his neck. 

It hit Ellie then that Nick and these cats were now a package deal, it wasn't hard for her to see how much he had grown to love these balls of fluff.

And..

She was already half in love with these balls of fluff herself. So the fact of the matter was, when the time came for her and Nick to become  _ Ellie and Nick _ because she knew it would happen eventually..she would happily adopt his cat children as her own. 


End file.
